God's Kingdom

God’s kingdom is alive wherever Jesus Christ reigns. The best place for God to reign is in our hearts. However, remembering the spiritual reality behind the physical reality is challenging.

Jesus emphasized the kingdom frequently during His ministry. He compared the kingdom of heaven to several objects:

• A farmer who plants seeds in various types of soil (Matthew 13:24).
• A treasure worth selling everything for (Matthew 13:44).
• A rare pearl worth selling everything for (Matthew 13:45-46).
• A large fishing net capable of catching all kinds of fish (Matthew 13:47).
• Yeast that can spread completely through dough (Luke 13:20-21).
• A mustard seed which is small but has the potential to sustain many (Luke 13:18-19).

What do you get when you put all these together? Something small and powerful. Deceptively small and unbelievably powerful. But also large in its scope. Resilient and unstoppable. Silent and active.

When Jesus brought up these analogies for the kingdom, He went on to explain that the way to reach the kingdom is hard to find (Luke 13:24). This fits with looking for buried treasure. Nothing in all of creation is more worthwhile and meaningful than God’s kingdom.

Jesus also talked about the exclusivity of the kingdom (Matthew 13:11). Only certain people can see the kingdom and grasp its significance.

The ability to see God’s kingdom is a treasure in itself. God promises that He will give us an abundance of knowledge and understand beyond simply recognizing the kingdom (Matthew 13:12). God wants you to know the secrets of heaven.

Can you see and understand His secrets? Does the kingdom feel alive to you? Ask God to show you the kingdom along with an abundance of understanding. Tell God you want Him to reign in your heart.

Before Jesus died and rose again, everyone, including Jesus’s disciples, was confused about Jesus’s purpose. Was Jesus on earth to start a military campaign? That would be easier that dying on a cross but not a final solution to the problem of sin. No, the kingdom Jesus talked about is a spiritual kingdom.

Your desire for God’s kingdom is important. “Thy kingdom come; they will be done.”

Jesus first waged war in the spiritual realm. He disarmed sin once and for all. Jesus advanced God’s kingdom and he left us a recipe for how to continue in His absence. Permit me to paraphrase the Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6:9–13):

1. Father God is perfect.
2. He wants to advance His kingdom on earth.
3. He meets all our needs when we can humbly receive them.
4. He meets our physical, emotional, and kingdom desires.

To advance God’s kingdom means to expand the reign of God like yeast spreads through dough and causes it to rise (Matthew 13:33, parable explanation). Yeast enters the dough and slowly transforms it. When righteousness, peace, and joy increase, the kingdom of God is advancing (Romans 14:17). The most direct and practical way to advance God’s kingdom is to fulfill the great commission. The great commission is as simple as you knowing God and helping others to know Him, too.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

—Matthew 28:19–20a

Just remember: to make a disciple, you first have to be a growing disciple. Being a disciple means you have experience being aware of your needs and receiving from God and others. You accept the help of God’s Holy Spirit who is present in the life of every believer.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

—John 14:16–17

How potent is your desire to see God’s kingdom come? Are you ready to Play the Long Game to advance God’s kingdom?